Paris (France) (AFP) – A Paris prosecutor Wednesday called on potential victims of US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to come forward, as magistrates investigate possible offences committed in France or involving French victims or perpetrators. The call to file complaints and give evidence follows the latest cache of millions of files released last month by the US Justice Department from the investigation into Epstein, who died in prison in 2019.
“We already want to stand alongside these victims,” Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau told broadcaster Franceinfo. “If they wish, we will receive all the statements they would like to make, either in the form of complaints or testimony.” The Paris prosecutor’s office has jurisdiction when a perpetrator is French, even if acts were committed abroad, or when the victims are French, Beccuau said. If evidence submitted is beyond the Paris office’s jurisdiction, investigators “would forward everything” to the applicable authorities, she added.
Several French public figures feature in the latest Epstein files, though being mentioned there does not in itself mean any offence has been committed. Prosecutors have said they are probing a French diplomat, a modelling agent, and a musician. The prosecutor’s office announced Saturday that magistrates had been tasked to examine possible offences involving French nationals, “notably of a sexual or financial nature.”
And influential former minister Jack Lang was forced to resign as head of a top cultural body, the Arab World Institute, over alleged financial ties with Epstein. The office of the national financial prosecutor has opened a preliminary investigation for “aggravated tax fraud and money laundering” against Lang and his daughter Caroline. Epstein had extensive ties with France. He owned a vast apartment on a west Paris street favoured by the rich and famous — Avenue Foch — and was a frequent visitor to the French capital before his death.
© 2024 AFP
